Posted
by
kdawson
on Monday February 11, 2008 @02:43AM
from the eat-your-heart-out-spiderman dept.

StCredZero writes with word of a research team from the University of Illinois who have developed a way to manufacture nanowires of any length from various materials. Not, unfortunately, carbon nanotubes, or we would be looking for news on space elevators soon. The process is analogous to drawing with a fountain pen — as liquid is drawn from a reservoir, a solvent (water or an organic) evaporates and the solute precipitates onto a substrate. The researchers have demonstrated a way to spin and wind a nanowire onto a spool; they have produced a coil of microfiber 850 nm in diameter and 40 cm long. Here's the abstract from the journal Advanced Materials.

But they only made the wires out of sugar, and various other water soluble compounds. While they said they could make wires out of ingredients that dissolve in volatile organic compounds, when will they be able to make them out of metal?

[geekhat]actually, I believe it was Heretics of Dune, when Sheeana was on the rooftop of the Priesthood of Rakis's building, and was saved by a Bene Gesserit who I *believe* wound up cut up by the shigawire.. but it's been a little bit since I've read the series, it might've been someone in the Priesthood who got cut up[/geekhat]